Sunday, April 16, 2017

Field Trip Time

One of the neat things we get to do now that we are part of a school is to go on field trips with our teachers and classmates.  Last week we went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  We had gone last year when Grace was taking Digital Photography.  This year she is taking Advanced Art History with the same teacher, who by the way is awesome!  This year we focused on types of art.  I just go along for the ride and the opportunity to see great art and talk to other moms.  This year I got to see some that I have met in a Facebook group for our school.





Today we went to an organic dairy farm, Traders Point Creamery on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  This time Grace's Environmental Science teacher lead the group.  Grace got to meet one of her classmates whom she had been corresponding with via email.  Her family drove over 3 hours to get to the dairy farm.  They were delightful.  It was sweet to watch Grace and her friend get to know one another better.  I am proud of Grace for making the effort to make new friends.  The dairy farm is another post all to itself.

They have 100% grass-fed dairy cows.  They gave us samples of cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, chocolate milk and ice cream.  We toured their barns and walked out to the pasture to meet the ladies responsible for this delicious milk.  I love cows and these were no exception.


We also recently visited our local zoo as a family, another fun trip.


It's a fun time of the year.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

This and That

Only a few days left until tax season ends if all goes well this week for my husband.  I am so excited to have him back during the evenings and weekends.  I have quite a long list of things for us to do before we list our house.  First up is to get the deck stained and mulch around the house.  Then I want to paint the master bedroom to a more neutral color.  It is a deep gold that we inherited from the previous owners.  I did not hate it, so we kept it.  Now it looks dark and scuffed. We also need to get the back screen door along with several screens fixed.  A certain little feline scratched them.  We need to clear out the garage and give it a good cleaning.  I want to get a storage facility and store some of our furniture and other items that make the house look cluttered.  Since I do not know what kind of house we will be moving to I cannot give things away that we might need.  I will give them away when I am sure we don't need them.  I want each room in our house to look larger and storing some things will help.  When all of this is done I will get the carpet cleaned and do a big clean up myself.  Houses are selling, thankfully.  On the flip side, there are fewer houses on the market that I want to buy in our price range in our target area.  This move will be a total God thing if it happens!!  And it has to happen.  Driving over 30 miles to church, work, and family is getting old.  My two youngest kids need to be closer to their godly friends.  Moving four years ago sure was an adventure and we learned a lot from our time here.  Never underestimate the importance of location!  


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Lessons Learned After Three Flat Tires in Three Weeks


If you cannot learn from adversity, you will be missing the hopeful side of a painful situation.  At least that is my philosophy.  And when your family has three flat tires in as many weeks on three different vehicles, you may as well look for the good!

We are super blessed to have three older paid for vans, all Dodge Caravans.  My husband drives our 2005 van with 120K miles back and forth to work.  It was a gift from my parents when they were getting another vehicle last year.  We lovingly call this van "Goldie."

Goldie started the flat tire trend when my husband noticed a slow leak the morning after a long weeknight trip home from church.  The first lesson learned, be grateful when a flat is just a slow leak and you discover it close to home.  Super thankful!  I think he was able to get it to the tire store without calling the motor club for help.  We also noticed that it was leaking more oil than usual, so we decided that we'd take it in the next day.  He'd drive "Old Faithful", the 2003 van with 180K miles, no A/C, and five-year-old tires that make it shake when you drive over 55.  Yes, we should have been expecting this next flat!

I took Goldie into the shop the next day with a bit of fear and trembling.  How much was this going to cost?  Thankfully, we go to an honest dealership and they gave Goldie a look over and called back saying it was just an old van with leaks, too expensive to fix it.  We are just supposed to keep checking the fluids frequently.  They charged us $5 to replace a lightbulb.  Score!!!

That evening, my dear husband discovers a flat on Old Faithful when leaving for home at 9:40 PM.  He has to call the motor club because he can't get home on a flat spare, too!  Thankfully, the motor club comes and the spare holds all the way home, 35 miles on the highway.  I was on standby to come to his rescue if needed.  He makes a note that the shake is gone.  Ha, ha!  Old Faithful is in the driveway with the spare still attached until we can get it some cheap tires.  We want to keep this van for our teens.

Flat number three happens to me yesterday on my way home from the morning school drop-off.  I drive the 2012 van with less than 120K miles and brand new tires.  I must have run over something in front of the lumber yard that I drive by.  Thankfully, again, I am just half a mile away from home and able to get home.  The motor company comes.  He has a horrible time getting the spare out from under the middle of the bottom of the van, the only place for a spare in a "stow and go" van.  Goodness, it could not be in a more inconvenient place.  He finally gets the van jacked up and cannot remove the tire.  He has to call a tow truck after all that.  The lug nuts are different sizes?  They don't have an adapter?  So weird.

By now, I am having to call the vet office and reschedule our morning's appointment.  I also do an attitude check,"Go with the flow" I tell myself.  I absolutely hate riding in tow trucks.  I hate having car issues.  But here I am, so I decide to look for ways to be a blessing to those I am going to come in contact today.

The tow truck comes and we have a pleasant conversation on the way to the tire store, my beloved Discount Tire.  I must give them a shout out.  They are awesome.  I get there, pay the money for going over 5 miles, and go into the store.

Oh wow!  There are people EVERYWHERE.  I am not the only one towed in.  I finally get checked in and they are going to also replace the lug nuts. Who knew that the ones that came on the van are not the one-piece type and they can swell up?

Thankfully, I have some things to work on and get settled in for my 2-hour wait.  Not too very long goes by and a nice young lady asks to sit next to me and we strike up a conversation. She tells me of how she is a single working mom and depends on her church for help with her 3-year-old because she has no family.  We have a nice talk and then my van is finished.  They were able to repair the tire.  Another nice worker puts the spare back in the awkward spot it belongs and I am free to go home, five hours after I ran over whatever that was!

I was able to see God working in my favor all morning long.  I received mercy upon mercy.  I remained patient and kind.  I saw opportunities to bless others.  It turned out to be a nice morning!  God's mercy was written all over all of our flat tires, still, I am praying that we have learned some valuable lessons and this is the end of the flat tire season.  :)